Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear tore into President Donald Trump’s tariff policies for hurting the very voters who elected him.
In a Sunday appearance on NBC’s Meet the Press, Beshear, a Democrat, bashed Trump for creating “chaos” with his seemingly arbitrary trade policies, which is not what he believes his state’s residents had in mind when they voted for the MAGA figurehead. Trump won Kentucky by more than 30 points in the election.
“Now we have tariffs on countries if he doesn’t like who that country is prosecuting,” Beshear told Meet the Press host Kristen Welker. His comment referred to Trump threatening to institute 50 percent tariffs on Brazil for prosecuting ex-President Jair Bolsonaro.
“It is increasing costs,” said Beshear. “Many of them voted for Donald Trump because they thought that he would make paying the bills a little easier at the end of the week. And he’s just making it harder.”
Beshear said he is also seeing small businesses in his state lay off people due to rising raw material prices.
“And when a small business is laying somebody off, it’s somebody they go to church with; it’s somebody that their kids play soccer with,” said Beshear. “This is going to impact the economy in such negative ways.”
The governor also blasted Trump’s deteriorating relations with trade partners Canada and Japan, which he said was moving toward more trade with China.
“Japan invests in Kentucky at a level [of] almost no other state,” said Beshear, adding that the largest Toyota manufacturing facility is in his state.
When Welker asked about the passage of Trump’s “Big, Beautiful Bill” and support for a provision that would raise Medicaid work requirements, Beshear called the requirements a “ruse.”
“What they are doing is doubling the paperwork on everyone. Not just abled-bodied adults, but everyone,” said Beshear. “What they are hoping is that parents with a special needs child who are really busy don’t check a box, and then they get kicked off their coverage for six months or more.”
Beshear added, “It is wrong. It’s cruel. But it’s also going to be devastating to rural economies.”
Beshear, who told Welker that he plans to “take a look” at running for president in 2028, estimated that 200,000 people in his state will lose their medical coverage to give a tax break “to wealthy people who live in urban areas.”
He added, “It is going to hit all over the United States. It is a betrayal of rural America.”
